American In Wwii Britain: Lots Of Time While Over There

April 02, 1995|By EVALYNE C. ROBINSON Daily Press

David Reynolds, a fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge University, an international lecturer and one of Britain's leading historians of international relations, is the author of four works about the American-British experience.

His latest offering, "Rich Relations," the result of Anglo-American cooperation, is publicized as "the first intimate look at the true story of the experience of nearly 3 million American servicemen during the American occupation of Britain from January 1942 to December 1945."

The GIs, most in their early 20s and living thousands of miles away from home for the first time, spent much of the occupation "in anticipation of action within the war," leaving them much free time.

The way they expended that time led to the Brits' assessment of them as "oversexed, over paid, over fed and over here." The GIs countered that the Brits were "undersexed, underpaid, underfed and under Eisenhower." One certainty: The enforced commingling of the two different cultural groups "acted upon and affected the groups in a way that profoundly and irrevocably altered both the personal and national identities of each."

Reynolds utilizes extensive research, official documents, wartime letters and diaries, interviews with survivors and his personal knowledge to the two countries to challenge the British stereotype of the GIs. He impartially examines the political and military factors, was well as the personal aspects. Viewing the GIs as "ordinary individuals, place in extraordinary situations," he concludes that a better description would be "more like ... a regimented tourist waiting for war."

In "Rich Relations," Reynolds provides a treasure of historical, political and military information. Also, he explores a variety of social problems that includes war romances and marriages, illegitimacy, venereal diseases, contrasting sexual attitudes, racial issues and the problems of readjustment when the servicemen returned to civilian life at the end of the occupation.